<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>If The World Was Ending by NalgeneWhore</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22759891">If The World Was Ending</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NalgeneWhore/pseuds/NalgeneWhore'>NalgeneWhore</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Elorcan One Shots [48]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Breaking Up &amp; Making Up, F/M, Post-Break Up</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 11:40:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,099</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22759891</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NalgeneWhore/pseuds/NalgeneWhore</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
      <p>song is If The World Was Ending by JP Saxe and Julia Michaels</p>
    </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Elide Lochan/Lorcan Salvaterre</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Elorcan One Shots [48]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1636468</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>If The World Was Ending</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>song is If The World Was Ending by JP Saxe and Julia Michaels</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was almost a year to the day, the anniversary of the day her world had been flipped upside down and the pain was still completely fresh, a new wave of it every single time she saw something that reminded her of him, of them. <b><br/>
</b></p><p>Elide had already told her boss she wouldn’t be in that day and planned to stay at home mending her shattered heart. Just thinking about him had her chest clenching and her throat closing as she fought back tears, wanting nothing more than to curl into a ball and cry. </p><p>The night air was bitingly cold as she at last stumbled out of Blueblood, the local club, and began to make her way home. Her ankle was smarting from the time she had spent dancing with her friends, letting the beat and the tune carry all her woes away even if just for one blissful moment when it was only her and the music. </p><p>Once she was outside, the giddiness and warmth she had felt in the club left her and as she waited for a cab she watched as people spilled out of the building, happy couples hanging off each other and she remembered she was alone. </p><p>Tears pooled in her eyes and she looked down at the sidewalk, eyes tracking over the cigarette butts and gum ground into the. Someone slammed into her back, causing Elide to stumble onto the road, freezing when a car swerved around her and nearly hit her. Hands dragged her back onto the sidewalk and when she turned to thank them, she almost sobbed because for one, tiny second, the stranger had his face but then it was over and she saw he was just an ordinary man, nothing special about his features, nothing remarkable about his black eyes. “Are you okay?” </p><p>Elide nodded, her heart beating hard, “Yes. Thank you.” </p><p>“Don’t worry about it, have a good night!” The man called over his shoulder as he left through the crowd, leaving her mind just as soon as he left her sight it seemed. </p><p> </p><p>She didn’t know how long it took for her to get home and she didn’t care, not as she closed the door behind her, the sound of the lock sliding into place deafening in the frigid silence of her apartment. She heard paws padding on the dark walnut floors, Hellas’ nails clicking with every step as he walked up to her, his heavy tail wagging. </p><p>“Hey, buddy,” she murmured as she ran her hand through his thick coat, the Husky nudging her thigh with his head, his eyes wide and sad and he let out a soft whine, looking at the door behind her when no one walked through it. She knew exactly who he was missing when his tail dropped and they both walked into the living room, Hellas pressed into her side like he was holding her up. </p><p>Elide settled into the loveseat, eyes on the electric flames dancing behind the glass of her fireplace, her dog curling up beside her and she leaned on him, her head resting on his side, his coat thick and soft, varying shades of black and white. He rested his chin on his paws, staring at the door, even when she whispered, “He’s never coming back, bud.” </p><p>Her phone buzzed and she dug it out of her back pocket, seeing Aelin had texted her. </p><p>
  <b>&gt;&gt;&gt; hi lovie </b>
</p><p>
  <b>&gt;&gt;&gt; u good?</b>
</p><p>She breathed out shakily as she typed her answer. </p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt;&lt; not in the slightest</b>
</p><p>
  <b>&gt;&gt;&gt; :( </b>
</p><p>
  <b>&gt;&gt;&gt; anything i can do? </b>
</p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt;&lt; no </b>
</p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt;&lt; i’ll be ok eventually</b>
</p><p>She saw the three dots and turned her phone on Do Not Disturb before she could read whatever her sister had to say. She loved Aelin but nothing she said, nothing anyone could say would stop her from feeling like there was a hole in her chest. </p><p>She had deleted his number long ago and it didn’t matter, she would know the ten digits that made it up for the rest of her days. </p><p>Before she knew what was happening, she had tapped out his number on the keypad and pressed the phone icon, tapping on speakerphone as it rang, her heart in her throat when he picked up. </p><p>“El?” </p><p>Her voice failed her as she tried to answer him. She hadn’t known how much she had missed his voice, the low, rolling sound that came from deep in his chest. “I don’t know why I called.” </p><p>“I’m happy you did.” </p><p>She sat up straighter, Hellas turning to look at her, “You are?” </p><p>Lorcan chuckled dryly and she could see it so clearly, him standing in his kitchen, only illuminated by the open fridge door, a slight smile on his face as he gently shook his head. “Of course I am. I missed,” he cleared his throat and the image changed to one of him sitting on his couch, elbows braced on his knees as he sat in complete darkness, his dog, Anneith, lying at his feet, his brow furrowed as he struggled to keep the hurt at bay. “I miss you.” </p><p>Elide pressed her hand to her mouth like it could keep the sobs inside her. “I miss you, too. This car, it almost hit me and,” she caught his sharp intake of air, like it still made his heart race in fear when she got hurt. “And I thought the world was ending ‘cause the person who caught me when I fell,” her voice broke because the last time she fell, Lorcan had caught her like he always promised he would. “He looked like you, just for a second, I thought he was you.” </p><p>“Are you okay?” It wasn’t despite himself that he asked her, he would always worry about her, would always break if she got hurt. If they were still as they had been, she would have laughed, chiding him for his protectiveness but they weren’t and it just reminded her of that. </p><p>“If the world was ending, you’d come over, right? You’d come over and you’d spend the night and hold me tight and you would love me for the hell of it. We wouldn’t be scared and we wouldn’t even have to say goodbye.” She breathed in deeply, “I know, we weren’t made for each other but if the world was ending, you’d come over, right? Right?”</p><p>“The world isn’t ending, Elide.” His voice was hard and she could still detect the strain, like he was trying to convince himself that they were right to break up. </p><p>“But what if we pretended it was?” </p><p>He didn’t say anything and she waited for what felt like an eternity before she heard the unmistakable sound of a call ending. What was left of her heart was demolished and she knew without a doubt, he had moved on and it was time for her to move on as well. </p><p>Tears slipped down her face as her phone fell from her hand to the ground, the screen shattering but she didn’t care, she didn’t care as she stood up, Hellas barking softly and jumping down to walk beside her as she went to her room. </p><p>The dog hopped onto her bed, turning in a circle before flopping down, resting on his side as she dried her tears and undressed, leaving her clothes where they landed. She opened the drawer beneath her wardrobe, feeling like she was mended and torn apart when in opening the heavy blackwood drawer, his scent of clean, midnight rain, wild wild wind and campfires, filled her senses. </p><p>Elide dwelled on every item of clothing she had in the drawer, reaching out a trembling hand as she sat cross-legged to touch each piece of him. She laughed in spite of herself at the memories behind each t-shirt and hoodie and sweatpants, every scrap of them that was woven in the fabric.</p><p>Her heart became heavy as she took out one of his hoodies, her favourite one because it felt like his arms were wrapped around her when she wore it. She pulled it over her head, her fingertips barely sticking out of the sleeves only this time, this time it was just a hoodie, the feeling of him holding her tight forgotten. Elide shut the drawer slowly and rose from her spot on the floor before crawling into bed but not beneath the duvet, instead she rested her head on Hellas, her tears dripping onto his fur. </p><p>Hellas shifted, bopping his nose on her forehead, letting out a low whine before bumping her again, prompting a tearful laugh from her, her hands smoothing over his belly, his tail sweeping back and forth. “We don’t need him, do we? No, we’ll be just fine, just fine, Hell.” </p><p>He shot her a look that asked <em>You sure about that</em>? And she wasn’t, she wasn’t sure about anything. </p><p>She was drawn out of her thoughts when someone knocked on her door and quicker than he usually did, Hellas was up, racing through her apartment to the front door. He barked at the door, not sitting like he usually did as Elide made her way to him, leaning down to scratch his ears, “Who is it, bud?” </p><p>Another bark came from the other side of the door and she froze, blood running cold while she opened the door to find Lorcan standing on her doorstep, Anneith on her leash next to him. Hellas tried to squeeze past her to get to the other Husky but she grabbed his collar, holding him in place as she and Lorcan stared at each other, his eyes darkening at the sight of her in his hoodie. “You’re wrong, El.” </p><p>“Wrong about what?” </p><p>“Us. We <em>were</em> made for each other and you know it.” </p><p>The Husky she was restraining struggled and she couldn’t hold him as he broke free, crashing into Anneith, the two of them tumbling to the floor of the hallway. Lorcan let the leash drop, their eyes still locked on the other’s. She hadn’t seen him in over three months, that awkward moment when they bumped into each other on their morning runs before she had gone home and cried over him again. He looked good but then again, he always did except for the circles under his eyes, the slightly flat light of his eyes and she suspected he saw the same things in her. “Then how did we get here? How did we ruin us if we were made for each other?” </p><p>“Because we took it for granted, <em>I </em>took you for granted and it was the right decision, it was right for us to end things at the time because we fucked it up but,” he trailed off, silver brimming in his eyes.</p><p>“But what?” She crossed her arms, gripping the cotton fabric to stop herself from reaching out to him. </p><p>“But it’s wrong now. It’s so unbelievably wrong and the world ending shouldn’t be the only reason we’re allowed to see each other, for me to tell you I love you, I always have and I will never stop loving you, Elide Lochan, I will spend the rest of my days on this gods-forsaken earth loving you the way you deserve, if that’s what you want.”</p><p>Elide sniffled as she nodded, half-sobbing as Lorcan smiled and she stood on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck and his arms banded around her waist. “That’s all I want.” </p><p>A furry body rammed into them and they broke apart, laughing as they looked down at Anneith and Hellas, the two dogs’ sides pressed together as they shoved Lorcan and Elide out of the way to pad into her apartment, Anneith’s leash dragging on the floor behind her while they made their way to the warm spot in front of Elide’s fireplace, curling around each other. </p><p>“Annie missed you,” Lorcan murmured as she wrapped her arms around his waist and he closed the door. “She would always stare at the door after I walked in, like you would be right there.” </p><p>“Hell did that, too. He’d sometimes wait on the carpet, standing and waiting for you even when I told him you weren’t coming back.” Elide swore under breath when she stepped in a manner that had most of her weight shifting onto her right ankle and he didn’t hesitate to scoop her up, lifting her like she weighed nothing. </p><p>She smiled and nuzzled her face into his neck, sighing contentedly, “I missed that.” <em>I missed you</em> were the words she didn’t speak but the ones he could hear just as clearly. </p><p>“Me too.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>im also on tumblr @nalgenewhore! (i post there more regularly)</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>